


It's Time

by purplebass



Category: The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Last Hours Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:46:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24821047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplebass/pseuds/purplebass
Summary: In that moment, she felt like she knew it was time. "It's time" she said to the empty room. "It's time, James" she said as she put both hands on her stomach. - A one shot about the night James Herondale was born.
Relationships: Jem Carstairs/Tessa Gray/Will Herondale, Tessa Gray/Will Herondale
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25
Collections: Wessa





	It's Time

**_Winter, 1886_ **

****

I was a night like any other.

Tessa was relaxing in bed, reading one of her favorite books. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. The blanket of her bed covered her form up to her chest, the book comfortably sitting on her belly as she turned the pages. She was dead tired after a full day at the Institute, and she had a stomachache that wasn’t going away, even if she didn’t eat that much food at dinner.

It was one of her usual evening activities, reading. She loved reading, and the last six years she had spent at the Institute were full of books. She couldn’t think of the number of titles she had read thanks to the spacious library they had there. Of course, some books were also given to her as a gift, and she was grateful to have met another person who loved them as much as she did.

Books gave her comfort, but they also helped her take her mind off thoughts that bothered her.

Like that night.

It was true that it was a night like any other, but that night her belly also felt weird, and she felt anxious. Tessa wasn’t the stressful type, but for some reason, she was feeling upset. It was as if she felt that it wasn’t a night like any other at all and she was lying to herself that it was.

She sighed and shook her head. She shouldn’t let her mind wander. She took a deep breath and focused on the book, but to no avail. She looked at the words written in black ink, but she wasn’t paying attention. She put the book aside and caressed her stomach. According to Jem’s estimation, it would be around thirty-nine weeks by the end of the month, which was in a couple of days. Her back hurt and she had contractions every couple of minutes, could it be that…?

“No, Tessa. What are you saying? It’s too early,” she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes for a brief moment. She hadn’t found good books about pregnancy, so she could rely on what Jem had told her the last time they had met and some scratchy information about the topic. That when the time would come, she would know.

In that moment, she felt like she knew it was time.

“It’s time” she said to the empty room. “It’s time, James” she said as she put both hands on her stomach.

It was past midnight, but she had to call someone. At least ask for a Silent Brother. How she wished Will was there with her, but he, Gabriel and Gideon were on patrol duty that night, so she was alone besides for Bridget, their cook. Will didn’t want to go because he had seen the tiredness on her face, but she had forced him to, since she had still managed to reassure herself that night wouldn’t be different. That on that night, nothing would happen. Yet.

She needed to get out of the bed and go to her room to let her know. She tried to move her feet to the side of the mattress, but they felt heavy because she was exhausted. She needed to do it, so she put all her strength in the movement and she made it. Her feet were on the cold pavement of her bedroom. She got up despite her back was hurting like hell.

She put a reassuring hand on her stomach and started to walk. It wasn’t difficult as she thought it would be, she just needed to put one foot in front of the other until she would get to Bridget’s room to get help. She reached the stairs. Her room was on one of the highest floors, but the servant’s quarters were on the ground floor, so she would have to take a few flights of stairs…

She put her hand on the banister and started descending. She was telling herself that she could do it, she had to do it. She was looking at the steps not to fall, and it was all going well until it wasn’t. One moment her feet were steady, and the next, when she got the umpteenth contraction, they weren’t anymore.

She felt breathless for a few seconds, and time moved in slow motion. It felt like when she was falling from a cliff like when she was escaping from the Black Sister that wanted to take her to Mortmain, a lot of years ago. She felt light without the ground safely under her feet. But she knew that the moment she would hit the floor would come, and she wouldn’t be as weightless as she thought. _I will break my neck and we will die_ , she thought desperately, until her fall was broken by two strong arms embracing all of her body like a fortress, and she closed her eyes.

The time seemed to go back to a normal pace as she took in the smells. The body who caught her before she would irrevocably damage herself and the life she was carrying inside, smelled like London. Like fog, but also like soap and the smell of rain.

“Will…” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

“Tess, what’s wrong?” Will asked, his tone concerned. He stroked her hair and her back with tenderness and he noticed that they were damp. “You’re sweating…” Her head was still bent on his chest and her hands were holding the lapels of his wet jacket as if she was holding onto dear life. He was her dear life, indeed. “Tess, talk to me” he pleaded.

She looked up then, locking eyes with him. The lights were dimmer on the stairs, and she couldn’t see the blue of his eyes, but she knew it was there. Will was there. Her husband was there.

“It’s time.”

She couldn’t make out his expression at first. One moment he looked puzzled until there wasn’t any guess as to _what_ time it was. Her water broke and it damped her bare feet and Will’s already wet boots.

“By the Angel… Bridget!” he shouted, and Tessa shook in his arms. In the meantime, he was still caressing her hair gently, to keep her tranquil. But he was shaking like a leaf as well, since he was already wet because of the rain outside and because, Tessa thought, he might be nervous. His hair stuck to his forehead in a strange way, making him seem like one of those heroes in Victorian novels. He was handsome, and wet.

She put her hands on his arm to steady herself. “You’re wet” she said, touching his arms and then his chest, his hair and then his face.

Will put a reassuring hand behind her back. “So are you” he looked at her pale feet on step and then slowly checked her out until he was back on her face. She saw something change in his features in that instant. Fear? Anxiety? Joy? She couldn’t name it, but she knew that he was invested by a different range of emotions. “Tess. My Tessa. We are about to…” he didn’t finish his thought because Tessa bend over in his arms. “Bridget! It’s an emergency. Come! Or I’ll forbid you from singing those awful songs in the kitchen!”

Tessa automatically laughed, but it was short lived, because laughing made her belly hurt. His hand instinctively went on her stomach over hers. “I swear, if she doesn’t come in a minute, I’ll really do that,” Will declared with a bit of anger tinging his voice. “Let me carry you upstairs” he added, then secured a hand behind her back and they climbed the stairs until they were back in their bedroom and he helped her sit on all of the pillows that were on the mattress. Her back wasn’t feeling much better, but at least they helped ease the pain.

“Are you okay?” he wondered, after she closed her eyes for a brief moment. He could see she was trying hard not to show she was in pain. He took her hand in his and she noticed his hands were cold, while hers where scorching hot and sweaty.

“I’m fine,” she nodded to reassure him, when another contraction came and she yelped.

“Tell me what I can do to stop the pain” Will said, and she could tell he was restless because he felt like he couldn’t do anything to help her. He didn’t know how much time had passed since he called Bridget, but he didn’t want to leave Tessa alone and go downstairs to call the cook. What if Tessa needed him and he wouldn’t be there?

 _You can’t do anything but wait_ , a voice said from behind them.

Will turned his head and sighed. It was a sigh of relief. Not that he wouldn’t know what to do if they couldn’t call anybody to help Tessa, but he would love the help, and he knew that in these occasions there was only a person he would entrust to help them.

“How did you know? Did…” he asked, but his question was cut short because Tessa had another contraction. He glanced at his wife. Her face was even paler than before, and she touched her stomach where it hurt.

Jem, Brother Zachariah, walked towards the bed before speaking again. _How many minutes between a contraction and another?_ He inquired.

“I don’t know,” Tessa murmured, her voice weak and barely audible.

“I think the last one was less than five minutes ago” said Will, still holding his wife’s hand like a lifeline. “Is this a good or a bad thing?”

_It means that she’s close. She’s into labor, which means that she’s dilated enough. Or this is how it should be._

Will frowned. “Dilated what? How can we know?”

Tess looked at her husband and laughed. It wasn’t as energetic as she’d wanted it to be, but it was a feel-good laugh. Not that Will didn’t know anything on how babies are born, but it was her who had spoken with Jem about this topic and what to expect, and he was probably just anxious to think clearly. “He just means that the baby can come out anytime now” she explained with a soft smile.

He looked perplexed. “Ah, yes. I mean, I know” he said. “Shouldn’t we check, then?”

Tessa looked at Jem in that instant, for confirmation. _Yes. You could check yourself, if you’d like._ He replied, then distanced himself from his friends a bit, giving them privacy.

Will left Tessa’s hand and stood up, then grabbed the hem of her nightgown and glanced at her face before doing what he had to do. “Can I?”

“It’s not like you haven’t seen it before” Tessa said with a playful tone and an eyebrow raised, when another contraction hit her and made her shudder.

Will panicked and did what he had to. “By the angel, I think I see the head. I mean, I see black. All black. And it usually isn’t this dark down t…” He left the sentence hanging, shaking his head as if he had said too much.

Tessa rolled her eyes, but she was amused. “Will!” She admonished him, and didn’t dare to look at Jem, who was now in the furthest angle of their bedroom. Perhaps he hadn’t heard. She hoped.

 _It’s the head_ , Brother Zachariah told them. _You need to push until it’s out. Will, you need to help. Stay where you are, it will be easier to get the baby out._

Will looked at his ex _parabatai_ with determination and nodded, then took Tessa’s hand in his. Jem had definitely heard what her husband said, but who cared now. It’s not like he didn’t know how she got pregnant.

She opened her legs more and grabbed the blanket for leverage with her free hand, while her left still gripped Will’s. She knew what she had to do; she had read it on some of the books she’d found. She needed to push until the baby was out and then it would be over. On paper it looked easy, but after the first time, she felt her whole body shook with pain. She had closed her eyes. The only things she could feel were the wet mattress under her and Will’s firm hand keeping her where she was and trying to tell her that he held her back.

“You’re doing great, Tess” he told her lovingly. “But it’s not over yet. I know it’s hard, but you have to give all your might for this to be over.”

Tessa pushed again, again, and again, until she felt something change under her stomach. She felt freer, liberated, but not completely. She looked at Will. He was still looking at her core, and he was holding something with both hands. Their eyes met, and he was content. Ecstatic. “One last push, Tessa.”

She did as she was told. The room was eerily quiet for a moment, but then a small cry erupted and filled everything, especially her heart. Their baby’s cry.

She couldn’t see well what happened in the next five minutes because she was blinded by her tears, but in the blurry moment she saw Will cut the umbilical cord and Jem checking if their baby was healthy. _The child is fine_ , he told them. Then she saw him coming to her and checking her pulse and her face. _I suggest you rest after until morning to recuperate. If you have any problems, just call me again._ He then walked towards the door, ready to leave.

“Jem” Tessa called, before he was out of the door. “Thanks.”

Brother Zachariah stopped in his tracks. _Anytime. Congratulations._ And then he was out.

Tessa knew that he didn’t mean to sound so detached. He was a Silent Brother now, and they didn’t show any emotion, but she knew that Jem was happy for them. She knew that they could deliver the baby alone if they needed to, but still. She had appreciated that he had taken the time to come and to check everything went fine.

She looked at Will, then. The baby was lying in her husband’s arms and was still crying, but he was trying to soothe him. Will looked at Tessa and smiled one of those smiles that tell you that person is completely and utterly happy, no one could disrupt his happiness. He walked to her side of the bed and sat down on the mattress next to her.

“Here’s your mom, _cariad_ ” he cooed over him as he passed him to his wife.

“Hello, baby” Tessa said, as tears pooled in her eyes once again. Their baby was beautiful, she noticed. He had Will’s dark curls and bright golden eyes. She wondered if her father had had those eyes, but it was likely, since nor she or Will had that shade in their families.

“You’re really beautiful, you know that?” Will said, looking at her adoringly. Tessa blushed, and grinned. The pain hadn’t subsided completely, but she felt more at ease. He stroked her cheek and her chin and covered her hand with his.

She looked down at the small bundle in her arms and then back at Will. “You can’t mean me” she teased, even if she knew he totally found her beautiful even in her disheveled state. She surely looked like Bertha Mason during one of the nights where she wanted to terrorize Jane.

Will replied with a quick kiss on her lips. She realized he wasn’t cold anymore, although his hair was still a bit wet. “I love you, Tess. You have no idea how happy I am right now.” He grinned, but his eyes were tearing up with joy, and then he was crying. “And I love you, James” he said to the baby.

Then it was Tessa’s turn to cry. “Welcome to the Shadowhunter world, James” she said.

The new parents glanced at each other as their tears mixed with their quiet laughs. They didn’t know if the baby would be a he or a she, but they were sure of one thing. That if their child would be a boy, he would be named James.

As Will and Tessa got acquainted with their first son, Brother Zachariah, Jem Carstairs, wished he could cry of joy as well. He hadn’t left the Institute yet because he was giving Bridget things Tessa may need for the newborn. Oh, it was Bridget who had called him, indeed. According to her, she decided to call him even if Tessa hadn’t told him so because she had seen something was wrong during dinner. That was the reason why he rushed there and got just in time. Luckily, Will returned before it would be time as well. He would have helped Tessa if Will hadn’t made it, but he knew Will wouldn’t forgive himself for missing his baby’s birth, so it was a blessing that he came back just in time to save his wife and actively help her deliver their son.

Jem knew he shouldn’t eavesdrop, it wasn’t in his nature, but he wanted to check. He wanted to see his friends one last time before going back to the Silent City. He knew they were fine, but he couldn’t help it. He needed to see them one last time. Despite being cold and detached after he became a Silent Brother, he knew that after tonight he would feel a bit warmer on the inside, because the love Will and Tessa felt for him invigorated his spirit and gave him the strength to go on with his life. And now, he was also sure little James would give him strength, and he would look after his parents when he couldn’t secretly sneak out of the Silent City to go see them and pretend, he had an emergency.

_Welcome, James Herondale._


End file.
